TOWSON ACCEPTS COLLEGEINSIDER.COM TOURNAMENT BIDTigers will play on Wednesday at South Carolina Upstate

TOWSON, Md. — The Towson University men’s basketball team has accepted a bid to play in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT), marking the Tigers first postseason appearance since 1991.

Towson (23-10) will play University of South Carolina Upstate (19-14) in a first round road game on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Hodge Center in Spartanburg, S.C.

The CIT, which features a 32-team field made up of non-BCS programs, is in its sixth year of existence. All 31 tournament games are played on campus sites with the CBS Sports Network broadcasting the semifinal and championship rounds.

Towson’s last postseason tournament appearance was in the 1991 NCAA Tournament when the Tigers fell to Ohio State, 97-86. That was the second of two straight NCAA Tournament appearances for Towson.

Led by a stellar senior class that has won a combined 41 games the last two seasons, Towson head coach Pat Skerry is excited for his team to experience postseason play.

“We’re extremely excited for the opportunity to play in the College Insider.com Postseason Tournament,” said Skerry. To keep our program moving forward, it’s vital to play in the postseason. With our highest RPI ever (96) and a school record 23 wins, our kids deserved to keep playing.

“The fact that our team would have been in the postseason last year but didn’t have that opportunity, it’s important that we do this for them. Many former CAA championship level programs – VCU, George Mason and Old Dominion – have all partaken in the CIT or CBI. What I really like about the CIT is that you have to be above .500 to qualify and that’s why you saw five Top 100 RPI teams in it last year.”

Towson played an extremely difficult non-conference scheduled this year, posting a 9-6 record. All six of the Tigers non-conference losses came away from home and all six opponents qualified for postseason play. Villanova, Kansas, North Dakota State and Stephen F. Austin all reached the NCAA Tournament, Sam Houston State was also selected for the CIT and Oregon State qualified for the CBI.

Towson finished in second-place in the Colonial Athletic Association with a 13-3 record. The No. 2 seed was the Tigers highest ever in the CAA Tournament. Towson handed Delaware, who won the league title and earned a No. 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament, its first conference loss of the season after the Blue Hens started league play 11-0. After sweeping both regular season meetings against William & Mary, the Tigers fell to the Tribe in the CAA Tournament semifinals, 75-71.

Towson is led by two-time CAA Player of the Year Jerrelle Benimon, who leads the nation with 21 double-doubles and leads the Tigers in scoring, rebounding, assists and blocks. All-CAA Third Team selections Marcus Damas and Rafriel Guthrie, along with Mike Burwell make up one of the most important senior classes in Towson history.

Wednesday’s opponent, USC Upstate posted the second-most wins in its school history during the Division I era with 19 victories in 2013-14. The Spartans opened the season with a thrilling 64-63 victory at Virginia Tech to post the school’s first-ever win over an ACC program. Upstate went on to knock off South Carolina 74-68 later in the year for its first-ever win over a team from the SEC.

The Spartans finished 11-7 in conference play and reached the semifinals of the A-Sun Tournament for the second straight year, falling to eventual champion Mercer in double overtime.

Upstate seniors Torrey Craig and Ricardo Glenn each earned all-conference accolades at the conclusion of the season. Craig was named to the All-A-Sun first team after leading the league in scoring while ranking fourth in rebounding. Glenn paced the A-Sun in rebounding, offensive rebounds and field goal percentage on his way to a second team selection.

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GREENVILLE, N.C. – Loyola University Maryland did not score for a stretch of nearly six minutes in the second half, enabling host East Carolina University to turn a one-point deficit into an eight-point lead, and the Pirates dealt the Greyhounds a 70-58, loss in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament Quarterfinals on Tuesday night in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

The loss ends the Greyhounds season with a 23-12 record, the second-most wins in school Division I history. Five Loyola players – graduate students Erik Etherly and Anthony Winbush and seniors Julius Brooks, Robert Olson and Luke Wandrusch – played their final games for the Greyhounds, but they finish their careers as the senior class with the most wins in the program’s Division I history (75).

Loyola, which won 24 games a year ago, also competed in the postseason for the second year in a row, another Division I first.

East Carolina (21-12) scored the first eight points of the game, but Loyola responded with nine in a row to take the lead on a Dylon Cormier layup less than five minutes in.

The Pirates retook the lead on a Ty Armstrong jumper the next time down the court, but after two tie scores, Cormier put Loyola up 19-17 with 7:16 on the clock.

R.J. Williams scored Loyola’s next five points on a pair of free throws and a three from the top of the perimeter, and Loyola was up five, 24-19, with 4:37 on the first-half clock. An Olson jumper pushed the lad to seven, but East Carolina would pare it back to four with 3:21 left.

Kemp, who went 6-of-10 from the free-throw line in the first half and 9-of-13 in the game, made 1-of-2 in consecutive trips for the Pirates before an Etherly jumper pushed Loyola back up seven with 2:21 on the clock.

Loyola had held without a field goal since the 9:17 mark until Paris Campbell hit a three at 1:29 to get the Pirates back within four. Campbell wasn’t done, hitting another three on East Carolina’s next possession to make it a 30-29 Loyola lead with under a minute on the clock.

Brooks made a short hook-shot with less than 30 seconds left, but Kemp scored on a dunk and was fouled with just over a second left before the break, and he hit the free throw to send the teams to the locker room tied at 32-32.

Cormier scored twice, and Winbush added a jumper in the first 90 seconds of the second half, giving Loyola a six-point lead and forcing an East Carolina timeout.

The Pirates went on a 7-0 run that gave them the lead, 39-38, on the backend of two free throws by Armstrong.

Loyola went back up on a Brooks putback at 16:16, but three Miguel Paul free throws 14 seconds back on top. An Olson jumper at 12:26 gave the Greyhounds a 45-44 advantage, but it would be their last of the game.

East Carolina scored the next nine points and held Loyola without a point until Olson scored again, this time on a layup, at 6:39.

Kemp led all players with 20 points, and Robert Sampson had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Loyola University Maryland will hit the road for its next game in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.

The Greyhounds will face East Carolina University in the CIT Quarterfinals on Tuesday, March 26, at 7 p.m., in Greenville, N.C.

Postseason Firsts

Last Tuesday’s first-round game against Boston University marked the first time in Loyola’s Division I history (since 1981-1982) that the Greyhounds have played in the postseason in consecutive seasons after making the NCAA Tournament a year ago.

It was also be the first Division I men’s basketball postseason game to be hosted on the Evergreen Campus and the Greyhounds first Division I postseason win.

Loyola’s berth in the CIT was also its first in the five-year history of the event.

Watch Or Listen

CollegeInsider.com will carry East Carolina’s broadcast of the game live and free of charge on its website.

Fans can also listen to the action on LoyolaGreyhounds.com where Jim Chivers will handle play-by-play duties.

CIT Information

The CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament made its debut in 2009 as a 16-team tournament that included schools from mid-major conferences. In 2011, the tournament expanded to 24 teams, and it grew again this year to 32.

Semifinals play will begin Friday, March 29, and the Championship Game will be played Tuesday, April 2.

Series History

Loyola and East Carolina will meet for the first time on the basketball court when the teams take the court Tuesday night.

The Greyhounds are 0-7 all-time against current members of Conference USA, although Memphis is the only team the Greyhounds have played since joining Division I in 1981-1982.

Earlier this season, the Greyhounds played at C-USA Champion Memphis and were within a point with just over 11 minutes to play, but the Tigers pulled away for a 78-64 win.

Last Time Out

Erik Etherly recorded a double-double with 27 points and 11 rebounds, making 17-of-19 from the free-throw line, and Loyola defeated Kent State, 73-59, in the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.

The Greyhounds shot 87.9-percent from the charity stripe, making 29-of-33 foul shots against the Golden Flashes.

Loyola never trailed in the game that was tied just twice in the first four minutes of action. The Greyhounds went up by nine early in the first half before Kent State pulled within six, 31-25, at halftime.

The Greyhounds then expanded their advantage to as many as 15 with less than seven minutes to play.

Postseason History

This year’s bid to the CIT marks the first time in Loyola men’s basketball’s NCAA Division I history (since 1981-1982) that the Greyhounds have gone to the postseason (defined as competition following the designated conference tournament) in back-to-back years.

It is just the third time overall in school history that the program has achieved consecutive postseason appearances.

The Emil ‘Lefty’ Reitz-coached teams in 1946-1947, 1947-1948 and 1948-1949 advanced to the NAIA Division I Championships, and the final squad during that period also went 3-1 in the 1949 National Catholic Intercollegiate Tournament.

Two years later, Reitz’s teams had a two-year stretch of postseason competition, playing in the National Catholic Championship following the 1951-1952 season before going 1-1 in the NAIA Division I Championships at the end of 1952-1953.

At the Division I level, Loyola has played in the 1994 and 2012 NCAA Tournaments.

All told, the Greyhounds are 7-8 in postseason play entering the game against the Pirates.

The win over Boston University on Tuesday was Loyola’s first in Division I postseason history.

Charity Stripe Keeps Giving

Loyola hit a season-high 29 free throws on Sunday afternoon against Kent State, scoring nearly 40-percent of its points from the charity stripe.

The Greyhounds needed just 33 attempts at the line to make the 29 shots, the third-most free throws Loyola has attempted this season, behind the 41 it took in double-overtime at Niagara and 34 it attempted versus Fairfield.

Loyola’s 87.9-percent clip from the free-throw line was it second best of the year. The Greyhounds made 15-of-17 (88.2-percent) in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Quarterfinals against Manhattan.

Entering the Kent State game, Loyola was averaging 22.4 free throws attempted while making 68.3-perecnt at the stripe.

Etherly Leads Way At The Line

Erik Etherly entered the CIT Second Round game as a 65.3-percent free-throw shooter, but the graduate student forward led the way for the Greyhounds at the stripe against Kent State.

His 17 free throws made are tied for second-most in school single-game history, behind only Jamal Barney’s 18 against NJIT in January 2009.

Of the four players who have made 17 or more free throws in a game – Barney, Etherly, Rodney Floyd (17 versus Mount St. Mary’s in 1973) and Maurice Hicks (17 versus Robert Morris in December 1983) – Etherly’s came in the fewest amount of attempts.

Double-Double Performance

In addition to his near-record-setting performance at the free-throw line, Erik Etherly recorded his third double-double of the season with 27 points and 11 rebounds, both game-highs, against Kent State. The double-double was the 16th of Etherly’s career.

Etherly also led all players with four assists in 32 minutes played. The game was his 11th of the year with 20 or more points.

Cormier On Top Of Game, Too

Dylon Cormier, who along with Erik Etherly was named to the All-MAAC First Team, scored 18 points in the second round for the Greyhounds, following his 16-point performance on Tuesday against Boston University.

Cormier made 5-of-12 shots from the field and 7-of-9 free throws, while grabbing four rebounds and dishing out two assists.

Defense Does The Job

Loyola’s defense held Kent State to a 27.6-percent clip from the field (16-of-58) on Sunday, the lowest field-goal percentage a Loyola opponent has put up this season.

It was also the Golden Flashes’ lowest field-goal percentage since December 20, 2001, when they shot 26.1-percent in a 62-56 loss at Xavier. It was also more than 10 years since the last time Kent State shot below 30-percent from the field (February 25, 2003, at Marshall).

Loyola blocked six shots in the game, led by a career-high tying four by Jordan Latham.

Winbush Does The Little Things, Again And Again

In the postgame press conference after the Kent State game, Jimmy Patsos credited the all-around game of Anthony Winbush. Patsos is fond of saying, “we don’t know what he does, but he does everything,” and the ‘everything’ portion of Winbush’s game came primarily on the defense end Sunday.

He scored just five points, had five rebounds, a block and steal, but he was the primary defender on Kent State’s Chris Evans.

Evans entered the game averaging 16.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, and he has been mentioned by many as a potential NBA second round draft pick. Against Loyola, however, Evans finished with 13 points and four rebounds, but eight of his points came from the free-throw line. He was just 2-of-11 from the field and had only one offensive board.

Onyiuke On The Board

Late in the game, walk-on forward Chido Onyiuke drove down the lane and was fouled, sending him to the free-throw line for the first time in his three-year career.

Onyiuke made both foul shots for the first points of his tenure with the Greyhounds.

Comeback Trail

Loyola trailed Boston University, 45-30 with just under 16 minutes to play in regulation last Tuesday, but from that point forward, Loyola shot 61.1-percent from the field (11-of-21), and all but one of the Greyhounds’ baskets were assisted.

Defensively, Loyola forced seven Terriers’ turnovers, four coming by way of Greyhounds steals. Boston University made just seven of its last 18 shots and five of its final 15.

During that run, Loyola knocked down 6-of-8 3-point attempts, while the Terriers converted on just 2-of-8 from behind the arc.

Loyola outrebounded Boston University, 14-7, in the final 16 minutes, and Loyola shot 15 free throws (making 12), while the Terriers missed their only attempt from the stripe during the span.

Erik Etherly pulled down six of his game-high nine rebounds during the stretch, while R.J. Williams (four) and Winbush (three) combined for seven of the Greyhounds’ 10 assists.

Cormier’s Last 11 Minutes

Dylon Cormier did not score for the first 29 minutes of last Tuesday’s game, missing all five of his shots as Loyola trailed by as many as 15 points.

However, he hit 4-of-5 shots from the field and 5-of-6 at the free-throw line in the final 11 minutes and finished with 16 in the seven-point victory.

He made all three of his attempts from 3-point range during the run, and a fourth was initially ruled a three before being reversed to a two on replay. Entering the game, Cormier had made three treys in a game just once this season, at Siena All four of Cormier’s field goals in the final 11 minutes were assisted, three by R.J. Williams and one by Anthony Winbush.

Olson’s Shooting Keeps Greyhounds Close

Robert Olson matched Dylon Cormier’s 16 points last Tuesday night against Boston University, and while Cormier scored all 16 of his points in the final 11 minutes, it was Olson’s nine first-half points that helped the Greyhounds stay within five points at the break.

The senior guard scored all nine of his first-half points on three from behind the arc, and he also led Loyola at the break with five rebounds.

In the second half, Olson knocked down two more 3-pointers, and he also had three assists and a steal in the second half.

Olson Sets Games Played Record

When he took the floor to start the CIT First Round game on Tuesday, Robert Olson became Loyola’s all-time games played leader. Entering the East Carolina contest, Olson has seen action in 126 games for Loyola, two more than previous record-holder Brian Rudolph (2007-2011). Rudolph and Olson played in 59 games together from 2009-2010. Meanwhile, Anthony Winbush is third in games played with 122, going into the East Carolina game.

He also set the single-season games played record against Kent State, appearing in his 34 of the year.

Throughout his four years at Loyola, Olson has missed just one game (at New Hampshire in November 2012).

Olson has played in all 33 games this season – the only Loyola player to do so – and with one more game played, he will also set the school single-season record.

Including Loyola’s win against Boston University, Olson has been a part of more victories (74) than any other Greyhound.

In the game at Iona, Robert Olson became the 22nd player in school history to score more than 1,200 points in his career. He is now 19th all-time at Loyola with 1,243 career points and is nine away from tying Aubrey Reveley (1983-1987) for 18th.

Elsewhere on the Loyola career charts, Olson is second in 3-pointers made (209) behind only Marquis Sullivan’s 281. He is also 21st in field-goals made (420), second in 3-pointers attempted (548), 16th in assists (231) and seventh in steals (118).

All-MAAC Honors

Dylon Cormier and Erik Ethelry became the first pair of Loyola men’s basketball teammates to earn All-MAAC First Team honors in the same season.

Etherly earned the honors for the second year in a row after averaging 16.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game during the regular-season.

He also blocked 27 shots and recorded 39 steals in 26 games. Etherly led the Greyhounds in scoring 11 times and has tallied 10 or more on 23 occasions, 20 or more 11 times.

Cormier has led the Greyhounds in scoring all season and enters the CIT first round with a 16.5 points per game average. He has scored in double digits in 28 of the 31 games he’s played this season and led the team in scoring 14 times.

In addition to his scoring, Cormier leads the team in total assists (77) and is second in the MAAC in both total steals (58) and steals per game (1.8).

Etherly Over The Last Seven Of The Regular Season

Erik Etherly’s 30-point effort in the regular-season against the Jaspers gave the graduate student five games of 22 or more points in Loyola’s last seven outings and three-straight with 23 or more.

He scored 25 versus Siena on February 8, 22 at Marist two days later, 26 at Tennessee State on February 23 and 23 last Friday night at Iona..

During that seven-game stretch, in which Etherly also scored nine at home versus Canisius and 11 at Siena, he is averaging a team-best 20.9 points. He is shooting 55.4-percent from the field during those games.

Three In The 20s

Three Loyola players scored 20 or more points on March 1 at Iona as Erik Etherly and Robert Olson both posted 23, and Anthony Winbush finished with 20.

It marked the first time in Jimmy Patsos’ nine years as Loyola head coach that the Greyhounds have seen three players reach 20 in the same game. The last time Loyola accomplished the feat was on February 16, 2002, when Donovan Thomas scored 27, B.J. Davis had 21 and Lucious Jordan added 20 in an 88-78 win at Saint Peter’s.

Olson’s Last Thirteen

Robert Olson has been the Greyhounds’ second leading scorer over the last 13 games (behind Etherly’s 16.8), averaging 15.2 points per game during that stretch. He has scored in double figures in 11 of the 13 games, has four games of 20 or more and five with better than 17.

During the run, in which Loyola is 9-4, Olson has shot 40.0-percent from the field and 39.4-percent from 3-point range. Those numbers represent improvements over the 37.8-percent from the field and 28.3-percent from 3-point range he shot in Loyola’s first 21 games.

Olson has made two or more 3-pointers in all but one of those games, and he has connected on four or more in five of the 12 games.

His stretch has raised his scoring average from 11.3 through 21 games to 12.8 entering the CIT Quarterfinals.

20-Win Season

The February 23 victory at Tennessee State was the Greyhounds’ 20th of the 2012-2013 season, marking the second time in as many years Loyola has reached the 20-win plateau. It is the first back-to-back 20-win seasons in school Division I history (since 1981-1982) and just the fifth overall.

Loyola previously put three-straight 20-win seasons together from 1946-1949 under the direction of head coach Emil “Lefty” Reitz.

More Than 60 Years

The last time the Loyola men’s basketball program won 20 games in back-to-back seasons, 1948-1949, the following things were going on in the world, 63 years ago:

Harry Truman began his first full term as President of the United States.

Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman premiered on Broadway.

The Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League merged to form the NBA.

The first jet-powered airliner, the de Havilland Comet, took flight.

Hit On 70

With their win over Kent State the Greyhounds are 10-3 this season when scoring 70 or more points in a game. Their only losses when scoring that many or more came at home against Iona and at Canisius and Iona.

Over the last two seasons, Loyola is now 19-4 when it scores 70 or more. Its only loss of that kind in 2011-2012 was in an 83-79 defeat at Rider.

Record-Tying Defense

The 41 points Loyola yielded at Manhattan tied the Greyhounds’ Division I record for fewest points allowed in a game. Loyola, which joined Division I in 1981-1982, allowed 41 points on two other occasions, a 43-41 win over Marist College on February 23, 1984, and a 58-41 victory at Dartmouth on November 24, 2009.

The 14 field goals by Manhattan were the fewest yielded by a Jimmy Patsos-coached Loyola team.

Opponents Under 50

The Manhattan game was the third time this season Loyola has held an opponent to fewer than 50 points. The Greyhounds did so in the November 9 season-opener against Binghamton (45) and on November 17 against Norfolk State (49).

Loyola twice held opponents to sub-50 performances last season: February 3, 2012, against Rider (46) and March 5 versus Fairfield (44) in the MAAC Championship Game.

Cormier, Etherly Score 1,000th Points

On Monday night at Fairfield, Erik Etherly and Dylon Cormier became the 33rd and 34th players in Loyola men’s basketball history to reach 1,000 career points as Greyhounds, and they did so in the same game, a feat never before accomplished at Loyola.

Etherly scored his 1,000th on a layup just 15 seconds into the second half at Fairfield, and Cormier followed suit on a 3-pointer from the left corner 8:07 later.

1,000 Points In the Same Game

Prior to the Fairfield game, through unofficial research, the last time a school had two players reach 1,000 points in the same game was nearly five years ago when Fernandez Lockett and Todd Babington of Austin Peay hit the plateau on March 7, 2008

However, it took just 24 hours for it to happen again as North Carolina State’s Richard Howell and Lorenzo Brown got to 1,000 in the Wolfpack’s 86-84 loss at Wake Forest on Tuesday night.

And Olson Makes It Three

Erik Etherly and Dylon Cormier were not the first Loyola players to score 1,000 in a career this season. Robert Olson reached the mark on January 6 against Saint Peter’s.

It is the first time in Loyola’s 103 seasons of men’s basketball that the program has had three players with 1,000 career points at the same time.

Holding Opponents Under 60

The Greyhounds limited Kent State to 59 points, the 15th time this season they have held an opponent to 59 or fewer on the scoreboard. Loyola has won all but one of those games. Including the 2011-2012 season, Loyola has held opponents to 59 or fewer 24 times, going 23-1 in the games.

Cormier Getting To The Line

Through 33 games played this season, Dylon Cormier has shot 229 free throws, an average of 6.9 per game. He has made 73.9-percent of those shots, a total of 170.

His 170 made are fifth-most in Loyola single-season history, and his 330 career free-throws made are 11th most in program history.

Guards To The Boards

Dylon Cormier and Robert Olson, Loyola’s starting guards, are tied for third on the team in rebounding this season with both averaging 4.5 per game.

Olson has pulled down five or more boards 17 times this year, and Cormier has reached or exceeded that total 13 times.

Winning Combinations

Loyola is now 13-1 when it shoots 45-percent or better in a game, and the Greyhounds are now 17-3 when scoring 65 or more points this season. Loyola is also 14-1 when holding opponents to 59 points or less.

High Marks

The Loyola men’s basketball team scored the highest amongst squads in the State of Maryland in the most recent NCAA Graduation Success Rate report. The Greyhounds checked in with a 91-percent GSR, tops among the state’s nine Division I schools, for players who entered the school between 2002-2005.

Century Mark

Head Coach Jimmy Patsos became the third coach in Loyola history to win 100 games when the Greyhounds defeated UMBC, 73-63, on the road last season. Patsos, who is now in his ninth season, took over a team that finished 1-27 during the 2002-2003 season. He won his 100th game in his 215th career game.

Last season, Patsos moved into third-place all time at Loyola in victories, trailing only Lefty Reitz (349 wins, 1937-44, 1945-61) and Nap Doherty (165, 1961-74).

Loyola All-Time Coaching Wins List

1.

349

Lefty Reitz

1937-1944, 1945-1961

2.

165

Nap Doherty

1961-1974

3.

145

Jimmy Patsos

2004-present

4.

85

Mark Amatucci

1982-1989

5.

72

Gary Dicovitsky

1976-1981

Baltimore Bred And More From Nearby

Since taking over as head coach in 2004, Jimmy Patsos has put an emphasis on recruiting locally, and it has never shown as much as on this year’s roster. Four players – junior guard Dylon Cormier (Cardinal Gibbons), junior forward Jordan Latham (City) and sophomore guard R.J. Williams and freshman forward Josh Forney (St. Frances) are products of schools within the city limits.

Six more players played in high school within 50 miles of Loyola, as the crow flies (thanks daftlogic.com): Jarred Jones, John Carroll, 20.5; Tyler Hubbard, Montrose Christian, 32.6 miles; Robert Olson, Georgetown Prep, 33.9; Anthony Winbush, T.C. Williams, 43.7; and Erik Etherly, Annandale, 47.9.

BALTIMORE – Erik Etherly recorded a double-double with 27 points and 11 rebounds, making 17-of-19 free throws, and Loyola University Maryland made 87.9-percent of its attempts from the charity stripe, and the Greyhounds defeated visiting Kent State University, 73-59, on Sunday afternoon in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.

With the win, Loyola (23-11 overall) advanced to the CIT Quarterfinals where it will play at East Carolina University on Tuesday, March 26, at 7 p.m.

Etherly’s 17 made free throws are tied for second-most in school single game history, one shy of the program record 18 set by Jamal Barney against NJIT on January 14, 2009. Of the four players in school history to make 17 or more in a game – including Maurice Hicks (17 in 1983) and Rodney Floyd (17 in 1973) – Etherly’s came in the fewest number of attempts.

As a team, the Greyhounds made 29-of-33 from the line, as Dylon Cormier made 7-of-9, Anthony Winbush knocked down his three attempts, and Chido Onyiuke scored his first collegiate points by making 2-of-2 in the final 30 seconds.

“Erik can make a living by getting to the free throw line, and he was aggressive in going to the basket and drawing contact today,” Head Coach Jimmy Patsos said.

The Greyhounds never trailed in the game that was tied just twice in the first four minutes. Loyola built a nine-point lead less than seven minutes in after a pair of Etherly free throws.

Kent State (21-14) cut Greyhounds lead back to three on a Khaliq Spicer dunk with 3:34 left before halftime, but that was as close as the Golden Flashes would get.

Robert Olson did not score in the first half, but he knocked down a three 57 seconds into the second half to extend the Loyola advantage to 10, 36-26.

Loyola went up by 12 twice over a minute span, the second time coming on a Cormier free throw at 12:41, but Chris Evans made two free throws at 10:47, and Kent State was within seven, 50-43. The Greyhounds quickly took the lead back into double figures until Randal Holt made two at the line to pull Kent State within nine, 54-45, with 8:28 on the clock.

A quick 6-0 Loyola run, however, with four Etherly free throws and a goaltending call against the Golden Flashes on a Cormier fast-break layup gave the Greyhounds their largest lead of the game, 60-45, with 6:29 left.

Kent State had one final comeback attempt, pulling within nine on a Darren Goodson jumper at 4:21, but Etherly again made a pair at the line, and the lead was back to double figures.

Cormier finished with 18 points, and Olson added 10. Etherly also led all players with four assists.

Evans and Holt led the Golden Flashes with 13 points each, and Goodson scored 12, but Kent State shot just 27.6-percent (16-of-58) from the field.

Evans, who was Kent State’s leading scorer (16.3 points, 7.8 rebounds) entering the game, was held to just 2-of-11 from the field primarily because of the defense played by Winbush.

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Loyola University Maryland continues play in the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament on Sunday, March 24, when it hosts Kent State University in Reitz Arena.

Tip-off is set for 3 o’clock.

Postseason Firsts

Tuesday’s first-round game marked the first time in Loyola’s Division I history (since 1981-1982) that the Greyhounds have played in the postseason in consecutive seasons after making the NCAA Tournament a year ago.

It was also be the first Division I men’s basketball postseason game to be hosted on the Evergreen Campus.

Loyola’s berth in the CIT is also its first in the five-year history of the event.

Watch Or Listen

CollegeInsider.com will carry Loyola’s broadcast of the game live and free of charge on its website.

Fans can also listen to the action on LoyolaGreyhounds.com where Gary Lambrecht will call the play-by-play, and Jim Chivers will handle analysis duties.

CIT Information

The CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament made its debut in 2009 as a 16-team tournament that included schools from mid-major conferences. In 2011, the tournament expanded to 24 teams, and it grew again this year to 32.

Teams in this year’s event will play in an unbracketed first round, and the tournament will be seeded and bracketed following those 16 games. Quarterfinal play begins Tuesday, March 26 at campus sites.

Series History

Loyola and Kent State will meet for the third time on the basketball court when the teams tip-off on Sunday.

The programs played a home-and-home series in 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 with the Golden Flashes taking both meetings.

Kent State prevailed 83-72 on its home court in a November 29, 1997 game, and it then edged the Greyhounds, 57-56, on November 28, 1998, in Reitz Arena.

In the 1997 game, Loyola’s Mike Powell had the fifth-best single-game performance from the free-throw line, making all 11 of his attempts. In the same game, the Greyhounds had 18 steals, the most against a Division I opponent in school history and the second-most in any game.

Jason Rowe dished out 10 assists, an amount that is tied for ninth-best in school single-game history, in the 1998 contest in Baltimore.

Last Time Out

Malik Thomas’ dunk with 15:32 to play in the second half gave Boston University a 15-point lead, but Loyola outscored the Terriers 38-16 over the remainder of the game, and the Greyhounds pulled away for a 70-63 victory Tuesday night in the CIT First Round in Reitz Arena.

Robert Olson started the comeback with a three off an R.J. Williams assist 13 seconds after Thomas’ dunk, but the Terriers maintained a double-digit advantage for the next two minutes.

Dylon Cormier later hit a three at 10:58 for his first points of the game, and the Greyhounds were within nine. Anthony Winbush drained a three as the trailer in transition with 5:55 remaining, and Loyola had its first lead of the game, 56-55.

Boston University would tie the game once more, 58-58, but Loyola scored the next seven points.

Cormier and Olson both finished with 16 points for Loyola, while Winbush added nine and Erik Etherly scored eight. Etherly had a game-high nine rebounds, while Williams tied his career-high with seven assists.

Postseason History

This year’s bid to the CIT marks the first time in Loyola men’s basketball’s NCAA Division I history (since 1981-1982) that the Greyhounds have gone to the postseason (defined as competition following the designated conference tournament) in back-to-back years.

It is just the third time overall in school history that the program has achieved consecutive postseason appearances.

The Emil ‘Lefty’ Reitz-coached teams in 1946-1947, 1947-1948 and 1948-1949 advanced to the NAIA Division I Championships, and the final squad during that period also went 3-1 in the 1949 National Catholic Intercollegiate Tournament.

Two years later, Reitz’s teams had a two-year stretch of postseason competition, playing in the National Catholic Championship following the 1951-1952 season before going 1-1 in the NAIA Division I Championships at the end of 1952-1953.

At the Division I level, Loyola has played in the 1994 and 2012 NCAA Tournaments.

All told, the Greyhounds are 6-8 in postseason play entering the game against the Golden Flashes.

The win over Boston University on Tuesday was Loyola’s first in Division I postseason history.

Comeback Trail

Loyola trailed Boston Unviersity, 45-30 with just under 16 minutes to play in regulation Tuesday, but from that point forward, Loyola shot 61.1-percent from the field (11-of-21), and all but one of the Greyhounds’ baskets were assisted.

Defensively, Loyola forced seven Terriers’ turnovers, four coming by way of Greyhounds steals. Boston University made just seven of its last 18 shots and five of its final 15.

During that run, Loyola knocked down 6-of-8 3-point attempts, while the Terriers converted on just 2-of-8 from behind the arc.

Loyola outrebounded Boston University, 14-7, in the final 16 minutes, and Loyola shot 15 free throws (making 12), while the Terriers missed their only attempt from the stripe during the span.

Erik Etherly pulled down six of his game-high nine rebounds during the stretch, while R.J. Williams (four) and Winbush (three) combined for seven of the Greyhounds’ 10 assists.

Cormier’s Last 11 Minutes

Dylon Cormier did not score for the first 29 minutes of Tuesday’s game, missing all five of his shots as Loyola trailed by as many as 15 points.

However, he hit 4-of-5 shots from the field and 5-of-6 at the free-throw line in the final 11 minutes and finished with 16 in the seven-point victory.

He made all three of his attempts from 3-point range during the run, and a fourth was initially ruled a three before being reversed to a two on replay. Entering the game, Cormier had made three treys in a game just once this season, at Siena All four of Cormier’s field goals in the final 11 minutes were assisted, three by R.J. Williams and one by Anthony Winbush.

Olson’s Shooting Keeps Greyhounds Close

Robert Olson matched Dylon Cormier’s 16 points on Tuesday night against Boston University, and while Cormier scored all 16 of his points in the final 11 minutes, it was Olson’s nine first-half points that helped the Greyhounds stay within five points at the break.

The senior guard scored all nine of his first-half points on three from behind the arc, and he also led Loyola at the break with five rebounds.

In the second half, Olson knocked down two more 3-pointers, and he also had three assists and a steal in the second half.

Olson Sets Games Played Record

When he took the floor to start the CIT First Round game on Tuesday, Robert Olson became Loyola’s all-time games played leader. Entering the Kent State contest, Olson has seen action in 125 games for Loyola, one more than previous record-holder Brian Rudolph (2007-2011). Rudolph and Olson played in 59 games together from 2009-2010.

Throughout his four years at Loyola, Olson has missed just one game (at New Hampshire in November 2012).

Olson has played in all 33 games this season – the only Loyola player to do so – and with one more game played, he will also set the school single-season record.

Including Loyola’s win against Boston University, Olson has been a part of more victories (74) than any other Greyhound.

In the game at Iona, Robert Olson became the 22nd player in school history to score more than 1,200 points in his career. He is now 19th all-time at Loyola with 1,243 career points and is nine away from tying Aubrey Reveley (1983-1987) for 18th.

The MAAC Quarterfinal was the 124th game played of Olson’s career, moving him into a tie with Brian Rudolph for most games played in school history.

Elsewhere on the Loyola career charts, Olson is second in 3-pointers made (209) behind only Marquis Sullivan’s 281. He is also 21st in field-goals made (420), second in 3-pointers attempted (548), 16th in assists (231) and seventh in steals (118).

All-MAAC Honors

Dylon Cormier and Erik Ethelry became the first pair of Loyola men’s basketball teammates to earn All-MAAC First Team honors in the same season.

Etherly earned the honors for the second year in a row after averaging 16.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game during the regular-season.

He also blocked 27 shots and recorded 39 steals in 26 games. Etherly led the Greyhounds in scoring 11 times and has tallied 10 or more on 22 occasions, 20 or more 10 times.

Cormier has led the Greyhounds in scoring all season and enters the CIT first round with a 16.5 points per game average. He has scored in double digits in 28 of the 31 games he’s played this season and led the team in scoring 14 times.

In addition to his scoring, Cormier leads the team in total assists (77) and is second in the MAAC in both total steals (58) and steals per game (1.8).

Etherly’s Career-High

Erik Etherly closed the 2012-2013 regular-season with a career-high 30 points on Sunday against Manhattan, becoming the first Loyola player since Jamal Barney on February 16, 2009, to finish with 30 or more points.

Etherly made a career-best 11 field goals on 18 attempts and could have even more points except for going 8-of-15 from the free-throw line.

The graduate student started the game by missing his first two shots, and three of his first four, but he misfired on just four more shots in the final 35 minutes of action. He scored 19 in the first half on 7-of-11 shooting.

Etherly Over The Last Seven Of The Regular Season

Erik Etherly’s 30-point effort in the regular-season against the Jaspers gave the graduate student five games of 22 or more points in Loyola’s last seven outings and three-straight with 23 or more.

He scored 25 versus Siena on February 8, 22 at Marist two days later, 26 at Tennessee State on February 23 and 23 last Friday night at Iona..

During that seven-game stretch, in which Etherly also scored nine at home versus Canisius and 11 at Siena, he is averaging a team-best 20.9 points. He is shooting 55.4-percent from the field during those games.

Scoring Off Turnovers

Loyola has increased its point production off opponents’ turnovers over the past 12 games, tallying 250 over that time period, an average of 20.8 per game.

In the first 22 games of the year, the Greyhounds scored just 304 points or 13.8 per game.

During the last 12 games, Loyola’s opponents have committed an average of 14.9 turnovers per game, 179 total. In the first 22 games of the season, opponents turned the ball over 276 times, an average of 12.5 per game.

Loyola’s steals have also risen from 6.6 to 8.6 per game between the first 21 and the last 12 games.

Three In The 20s

Three Loyola players scored 20 or more points on March 1 at Iona as Erik Etherly and Robert Olson both posted 23, and Anthony Winbush finished with 20.

It marked the first time in Jimmy Patsos’ nine years as Loyola head coach that the Greyhounds have seen three players reach 20 in the same game. The last time Loyola accomplished the feat was on February 16, 2002, when Donovan Thomas scored 27, B.J. Davis had 21 and Lucious Jordan added 20 in an 88-78 win at Saint Peter’s.

Winbush On Target In Career-High

Anthony Winbush’s 20 points at Iona marked a career-high for the fifth-year senior and the first 20-point game of his career. He did so while only missing two shots, going 10-of-12 from the field. His 10 field goals and 12 field goal attempts were also career-highs.

Prior to that game, Winbush’s career high was 17 points, a total he had reached twice. The last time he scored 17 was on December 18, 2008, at Bucknell during his freshman year at Loyola.

His previous season-high was 16 in a game that he shot made 5-of-8 field goals, including a pair of threes, and 4-of-6 free throws against Saint Peter’s on December 8, 2012, at the IZOD Center.

Olson’s Last Twelve

Robert Olson has been the Greyhounds’ second leading scorer over the last 12 games, averaging 15.9 points per game during that stretch. He has scored in double figures in 10 of the 12 games, has four games of 20 or more and five with better than 17.

During the run, in which Loyola is 8-4, Olson has shot 40.0-percent from the field and 40.2-percent from 3-point range. Those numbers represent improvements over the 37.8-percent from the field and 28.3-percent from 3-point range he shot in Loyola’s first 21 games.

Olson has made two or more 3-pointers in all but one of those games, and he has connected on four or more in five of the 12 games.

His stretch has raised his scoring average from 11.3 through 21 games to 12.9 entering the CIT Second Round.

20-Win Season

The February 23 victory at Tennessee State was the Greyhounds’ 20th of the 2012-2013 season, marking the second time in as many years Loyola has reached the 20-win plateau. It is the first back-to-back 20-win seasons in school Division I history (since 1981-1982) and just the fifth overall.

Loyola previously put three-straight 20-win seasons together from 1946-1949 under the direction of head coach Emil “Lefty” Reitz.

More Than 60 Years

The last time the Loyola men’s basketball program won 20 games in back-to-back seasons, 1948-1949, the following things were going on in the world, 63 years ago:

Harry Truman began his first full term as President of the United States.

Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman premiered on Broadway.

The Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League merged to form the NBA.

The first jet-powered airliner, the de Havilland Comet, took flight.

Another 20-Point Game For Cormier

Dylon Cormier recorded his second-straight 20-point effort at Tennessee State, making 7-of-16 field goals and 5-of-7 from the free-throw line against the Tigers. He has led Loyola in scoring throughout the season and is currently sixth in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with 16.6 points per game. Cormier has scored 15 or more 20 times this season.

Cormier earned Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors on February 18 after averaging 20.5 points and 4.0 steals in wins over Canisius and Siena the weekend prior. He led all players with 24 points, going 9-of-10 from the free-throw line at Siena, and he also tied his season-high with five steals.

He has consistently raised his game since his freshman season. Cormier averaged 8.1 as a freshman in 2010-2011, 13.4 last year and 16.5 this season. His rebounds per game have also risen from 3.0-3.3-4.5, as have his steals per game (0.8-1.6-1.8) and assists per game (1.1-1.8-2.3). He currently is second in the MAAC in steals (58) and steals per game (1.8).

Hit On 70

With their win over Boston University the Greyhounds are 9-3 this season when scoring 70 or more points in a game. Their only losses when scoring that many or more came at home against Iona and at Canisius and Iona.

Over the last two seasons, Loyola is now 19-4 when it scores 70 or more. Its only loss of that kind in 2011-2012 was in an 83-79 defeat at Rider.

Record-Tying Defense

The 41 points Loyola yielded at Manhattan tied the Greyhounds’ Division I record for fewest points allowed in a game. Loyola, which joined Division I in 1981-1982, allowed 41 points on two other occasions, a 43-41 win over Marist College on February 23, 1984, and a 58-41 victory at Dartmouth on November 24, 2009.

The 14 field goals by Manhattan were the fewest yielded by a Jimmy Patsos-coached Loyola team.

Opponents Under 50

The Manhattan game was the third time this season Loyola has held an opponent to fewer than 50 points. The Greyhounds did so in the November 9 season-opener against Binghamton (45) and on November 17 against Norfolk State (49).

Loyola twice held opponents to sub-50 performances last season: February 3, 2012, against Rider (46) and March 5 versus Fairfield (44) in the MAAC Championship Game.

Over the nine years Jimmy Patsos has been head coach at Loyola, the Greyhounds have held opponents under 50 points nine times, all Greyhound wins. The nine games have all come in the last four seasons.

Cormier, Etherly Score 1,000th Points

On Monday night at Fairfield, Erik Etherly and Dylon Cormier became the 33rd and 34th players in Loyola men’s basketball history to reach 1,000 career points as Greyhounds, and they did so in the same game, a feat never before accomplished at Loyola.

Etherly scored his 1,000th on a layup just 15 seconds into the second half at Fairfield, and Cormier followed suit on a 3-pointer from the left corner 8:07 later.

1,000 Points In the Same Game

Prior to the Fairfield game, through unofficial research, the last time a school had two players reach 1,000 points in the same game was nearly five years ago when Fernandez Lockett and Todd Babington of Austin Peay hit the plateau on March 7, 2008

However, it took just 24 hours for it to happen again as North Carolina State’s Richard Howell and Lorenzo Brown got to 1,000 in the Wolfpack’s 86-84 loss at Wake Forest on Tuesday night.

And Olson Makes It Three

Erik Etherly and Dylon Cormier were not the first Loyola players to score 1,000 in a career this season. Robert Olson reached the mark on January 6 against Saint Peter’s.

It is the first time in Loyola’s 103 seasons of men’s basketball that the program has had three players with 1,000 career points at the same time.

Three 1,000-Point Scorers In MAAC History

Since the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference was founded in 1980, this is just the sixth instance of a team touting three players with 1,000-plus points at the same time. Iona (2000-2001, 2011-2012) and Siena (1999-2000, 2009-2010) have accomplished twice, while Loyola joins Niagara (2004-2005) with a one-time occurrence.

Holding Opponents Under 60

The Greyhounds limited Siena to 51 points, the 12th time this season they have held an opponent to 59 or fewer on the scoreboard. Loyola has won all 12 of those games. Including the 2011-2012 season, Loyola has held opponents to 59 or fewer 23 times, all victories.

Cormier Getting To The Line

Through 32 games played this season, Dylon Cormier has shot 221 free throws, an average of 6.9 per game. He has made 73.8-percent of those shots, a total of 163.

His 163 made are sixth-most in Loyola single-season history, and his 324 career free-throws made are 11th most in program history.

Guards To The Boards

Dylon Cormier and Robert Olson, Loyola’s starting guards, are tied for third on the team in rebounding this season with both averaging 4.5 per game.

Olson has pulled down five or more boards 17 times this year, and Cormier has reached or exceeded that total 13 times.

Winning Combinations

Loyola is now 13-1 when it shoots 45-percent or better in a game, and the Greyhounds are now 16-3 when scoring 65 or more points this season. Loyola is also 13-1 when holding opponents to 59 points or less.

High Marks

The Loyola men’s basketball team scored the highest amongst squads in the State of Maryland in the most recent NCAA Graduation Success Rate report. The Greyhounds checked in with a 91-percent GSR, tops among the state’s nine Division I schools, for players who entered the school between 2002-2005.

Century Mark

Head Coach Jimmy Patsos became the third coach in Loyola history to win 100 games when the Greyhounds defeated UMBC, 73-63, on the road last season. Patsos, who is now in his ninth season, took over a team that finished 1-27 during the 2002-2003 season. He won his 100th game in his 215th career game.

Last season, Patsos moved into third-place all time at Loyola in victories, trailing only Lefty Reitz (349 wins, 1937-44, 1945-61) and Nap Doherty (165, 1961-74).

Loyola All-Time Coaching Wins List

1.

349

Lefty Reitz

1937-1944, 1945-1961

2.

165

Nap Doherty

1961-1974

3.

144

Jimmy Patsos

2004-present

4.

85

Mark Amatucci

1982-1989

5.

72

Gary Dicovitsky

1976-1981

Baltimore Bred And More From Nearby

Since taking over as head coach in 2004, Jimmy Patsos has put an emphasis on recruiting locally, and it has never shown as much as on this year’s roster. Four players – junior guard Dylon Cormier (Cardinal Gibbons), junior forward Jordan Latham (City) and sophomore guard R.J. Williams and freshman forward Josh Forney (St. Frances) are products of schools within the city limits.

Six more players played in high school within 50 miles of Loyola, as the crow flies (thanks daftlogic.com): Jarred Jones, John Carroll, 20.5; Tyler Hubbard, Montrose Christian, 32.6 miles; Robert Olson, Georgetown Prep, 33.9; Anthony Winbush, T.C. Williams, 43.7; and Erik Etherly, Annandale, 47.9.

BALTIMORE – Fresh off its first postseason victory in school Division I history, the Loyola University Maryland men’s basketball team will host Kent State University on Sunday, March 24, in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament Second Round in Reitz Arena.

Tickets for the game can be purchased online at LoyolaGreyhounds.com/Tickets or by calling 410-617-1420.

The Greyhounds (22-11 overall) defeated Boston Unviersity, 70-63, on Tuesday night in the first round after trailing by 15 points in the second half.

Kent State advanced to the second round with a 73-71 victory last night over Fairfield University. Randal Holt, who led the Golden Flashes with 18 points, scored on a driving layup with three seconds remaining to provide the winning margin.

The Golden Flashes finished third in the Mid-American Conference East Division during the regular season and with their win over the Stags, they enter the second round game with a 21-13 overall record.

Sunday will be the teams’ third meeting in series history. Loyola and Kent State played a home-and-home series in 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 with the Golden Flashes winning both contests.

BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half, but the Greyhounds used a 38-16 run over the game’s final 15-plus minutes to defeat Boston University, 70-63, in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament on Tuesday night in Reitz Arena.

The win, which was the Greyhounds first in NCAA Division I postseason play, propels Loyola in the CIT Second Round where it will host a game on Sunday, March 24, at 3 p.m. against a to-be-determined opponent.

Loyola (22-11 overall) trailed by 15 twice in the second half, the second time with 15:32 to play on a Malik Thomas dunk.

Robert Olson began the comeback with a 3-pointer off one of R.J. Williams’ career-high tying seven assists 13 seconds later, but the Terriers (17-13) held the lead in double digits for the next two minutes.

Julius Brooks knocked down a spinning hook at 12:48 to cut the Greyhounds’ deficit to eight, 49-41, but back-to-back Boston University baskets by D.J. Irving pushed it back to 12, 53-41, at 11:32.

Dylon Cormier, who had not scored a point in the first 29 minutes of the game, kicked his offensive game into action with a three at 10:58, and the Greyhounds were within nine, 53-44. Olson hit a three in transition off a Cormier steal and assist 41 ticks of the clock later, and the Boston University lead was six

Dom Morris, who scored a game-best 17 for Boston University, hit a runner in the lane at 8:47 to momentarily stem the run, but Cormier made 3-of-4 free throws on Loyola’s next two possession to pick it back up.

Cormier then hit a three with just under seven minutes to play, and Loyola was within a pair, 55-53. Boston University again missed two shots on their next two possessions, and Anthony Winbush hit a three as the trailer in transition with 5:55 to play, and the Greyhounds had their first lead of the game, 56-55.

Olson came up with a steal at the defensive end, leading to a Cormier jumper that was ruled a three but changed to a two after a review showed his foot was on the line.

Neither Loyola, nor the Terriers scored for more than a minute until Malik Thomas hit a three from the right side at 3:42, tying the game at 58-58.

Cormier answered for the Greyhounds, draining a three from the right side at 3:16 to give the Greyhounds back the lead, 61-58.

Loyola forced a missed Boston University layup, and then a D.J. Irving turnover in the Terriers next two possessions, and Winbush hit Erik Etherly behind the defense in a half-court set for a dunk that gave Loyola its first multi-possession lead of the game, 63-58, with 1:32 remaining.

Irving came up short on a three for the Terriers, and Etherly grabbed the Loyola rebound with just over a minute to play, and after he was fouled, Williams made both from the line to make the Greyhounds’ lead seven.

The Terriers made just five of their last 15 shots, including a three by Irving with just over four seconds remaining and Loyola ahead by 10. They also had seven turnovers in the game’s final 16 minutes and 16 total in the game.

Olson and Cormier both scored 16 for the Greyhounds, while Winbush added nine and Etherly had eight. Olson hit 5-of-11 from 3-point range, and Cormier was 3-of-5 from behind the arc.

Etherly had a game-best nine rebounds, while Cormier had six and Olson grabbed five as Loyola controlled a 32-30 advantage on the boards.

In addition to Morris’ 17 points, Thomas had 15, and Maurice Watson Jr. and Irving each had 12.

Comments Off on Loyola tops Boston U for first ever postseason victory

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It was the best time ever. I went back through my phone to find any photos I may have taken and this is the only one I could find…

Loyola University Maryland will begin play in the postseason for the second year in a row on Tuesday, March 19, when it hosts Boston University in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) First Round.

Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. in Reitz Arena.

Postseason Firsts

The game will mark the first time in Loyola’s Division I history (since 1981-1982) that the Greyhounds have played in the postseason in consecutive seasons after making the NCAA Tournament a year ago.

It will also be the first Division I men’s basketball postseason game to be hosted on the Evergreen Campus.

Loyola’s berth in the CIT is also its first in the five-year history of the event.

Watch Or Listen

CollegeInsider.com will carry Loyola’s broadcast of the game live and free of charge on its website.

Fans can also listen to the action on LoyolaGreyhounds.com where Gary Lambrecht will call the play-by-play, and Jim Chivers will handle analysis duties.

CIT Information

The CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament made its debut in 2009 as a 16-team tournament that included schools from mid-major conferences. In 2011, the tournament expanded to 24 teams, and it grew again this year to 32.

Teams in this year’s event will play in an unbracketed first round, and the tournament will be seeded and bracketed following those 16 games. Second Round play begins March 22 at campus sites.

Series History

Loyola and Boston University will meet for the third time when the teams take the floor Tuesday. The series is tied, 1-1, after Loyola picked up a 69-56 victory on February 19, 2012, on its home floor in Bracketbuster play.

The teams will become regular foes beginning in 2013-2014 when Loyola and Boston University become the ninth and 10th members of the Patriot League.

In the 2012 meeting, the Greyhounds shot 71.4-percent from the floor in the second half, and Robert Olson scored 12 of his team-high 17 points in the second half, all on 3-pointers, and Loyola pulled away after leading 29-28 at halftime. Dylon Cormier added 14 points, and Erik Etherly had a game-best six rebounds.

The Terriers won the first meeting, 71-51, in the first round of the Sports Foundation Classic on December 27, 1996, in Tampa, Fla.

Jason Rowe led the Greyhounds with 16 points and seven assists in the game, and Erik Cooper scored a career-high 15. Tunji Awojobi finished with a game-high 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Terriers.

Last Time Out

Dylon Cormier converted a 3-point play with 2:42 left in regulation to pull Loyola within a point, 53-52, but his points were the Greyhounds’ last of the game, and Manhattan came away with a 55-52 win in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Quarterfinals on March 9 in Springfield, Mass., at the MassMutual Center.

Loyola trailed by four at halftime, as many as 13 in the first half and 14 in the second, before Cormier drew the Greyhounds the closest they had been since the game’s opening minutes.

Cormier finished with a game-high 14 points, and Anthony Winbush added 12 points. Cormier also had a team-best seven rebounds, while Winbush pulled down six. Rhamel Brown led the Jaspers, who advanced to the MAAC title game, with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Postseason History

This year’s bid to the CIT marks the first time in Loyola men’s basketball’s NCAA Division I history (since 1981-1982) that the Greyhounds have gone to the postseason (defined as competition following the designated conference tournament) in back-to-back years.

It is just the third time overall in school history that the program has achieved consecutive postseason appearances.

The Emil ‘Lefty’ Reitz-coached teams in 1946-1947, 1947-1948 and 1948-1949 advanced to the NAIA Division I Championships, and the final squad during that period also went 3-1 in the 1949 National Catholic Intercollegiate Tournament.

Two years later, Reitz’s teams had a two-year stretch of postseason competition, playing in the National Catholic Championship following the 1951-1952 season before going 1-1 in the NAIA Division I Championships at the end of 1952-1953.

At the Division I level, Loyola has played in the 1994 and 2012 NCAA Tournaments.

All told, the Greyhounds are 5-8 in postseason play entering the game against the Terriers.

All-MAAC Honors

Last week, Dylon Cormier and Erik Ethelry became the first pair of Loyola men’s basketball teammates to earn All-MAAC First Team honors in the same season.

Etherly earned the honors for the second year in a row after averaging 16.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game during the regular-season.

He also blocked 27 shots and recorded 39 steals in 26 games. Etherly led the Greyhounds in scoring 11 times and has tallied 10 or more on 22 occasions, 20 or more 10 times.

Cormier has led the Greyhounds in scoring all season and enters the CIT first round with a 16.5 points per game average. He has scored in double digits in 28 of the 31 games he’s played this season and led the team in scoring 14 times.

In addition to his scoring, Cormier leads the team in total assists (77) and is second in the MAAC in both total steals (58) and steals per game (1.8).

Etherly’s Career-High

Erik Etherly closed the 2012-2013 regular-season with a career-high 30 points on Sunday against Manhattan, becoming the first Loyola player since Jamal Barney on February 16, 2009, to finish with 30 or more points.

Etherly made a career-best 11 field goals on 18 attempts and could have even more points except for going 8-of-15 from the free-throw line.

The graduate student started the game by missing his first two shots, and three of his first four, but he misfired on just four more shots in the final 35 minutes of action. He scored 19 in the first half on 7-of-11 shooting.

Etherly Over The Last Seven Of The Regular Season

Erik Etherly’s 30-point effort in the regular-season against the Jaspers gave the graduate student five games of 22 or more points in Loyola’s last seven outings and three-straight with 23 or more.

He scored 25 versus Siena on February 8, 22 at Marist two days later, 26 at Tennessee State on February 23 and 23 last Friday night at Iona..

During that seven-game stretch, in which Etherly also scored nine at home versus Canisius and 11 at Siena, he is averaging a team-best 20.9 points. He is shooting 55.4-percent from the field during those games.

Scoring Off Turnovers

Loyola has increased its point production off opponents’ turnovers over the past 11 games, tallying 232 over that time period, an average of 21.1 per game.

In the first 22 games of the year, the Greyhounds scored just 304 points or 13.8 per game.

During the last 11 games, Loyola’s opponents have committed an average of 14.8 turnovers per game, 163 total. In the first 22 games of the season, opponents turned the ball over 276 times, an average of 12.5 per game.

Loyola’s steals have also risen from 6.6 to 8.7 per game between the first 21 and the last 11 games.

The Greyhounds, however, scored only seven points off turnovers in its MAAC Quarterfinal loss to Manhattan, the fewest they scored in that respect since December 1 in a loss to Florida Gulf Coast.

Three In The 20s

Three Loyola players scored 20 or more points on March 1 at Iona as Erik Etherly and Robert Olson both posted 23, and Anthony Winbush finished with 20.

It marked the first time in Jimmy Patsos’ nine years as Loyola head coach that the Greyhounds have seen three players reach 20 in the same game. The last time Loyola accomplished the feat was on February 16, 2002, when Donovan Thomas scored 27, B.J. Davis had 21 and Lucious Jordan added 20 in an 88-78 win at Saint Peter’s.

Winbush On Target In Career-High

Anthony Winbush’s 20 points at Iona marked a career-high for the fifth-year senior and the first 20-point game of his career. He did so while only missing two shots, going 10-of-12 from the field. His 10 field goals and 12 field goal attempts were also career-highs.

Prior to that game, Winbush’s career high was 17 points, a total he had reached twice. The last time he scored 17 was on December 18, 2008, at Bucknell during his freshman year at Loyola.

His previous season-high was 16 in a game that he shot made 5-of-8 field goals, including a pair of threes, and 4-of-6 free throws against Saint Peter’s on December 8, 2012, at the IZOD Center.

Winbush has now scored in double figures seven times this season, and the Greyhounds are 6-1 in those games.

Olson’s Last Eleven

Robert Olson has been the Greyhounds’ second leading scorer over the last 11 games, averaging 15.5 points per game during that stretch. He has scored in double figures in nine of the 11 games, has four games of 20 or more and five with better than 17.

During the run, in which Loyola is 7-4, Olson has shot 41.6-percent from the field and 39.5-percent from 3-point range. Those numbers represent improvements over the 37.8-percent from the field and 28.3-percent from 3-point range he shot in Loyola’s first 21 games.

Olson has made two or more 3-pointers in all but one of those games, and he has connected on four or more in four of the 11 games.

His stretch has raised his scoring average from 11.3 through 21 games to 12.8 entering the CIT First Round.

Season-High In Assists

Loyola dished out a season-high 23 assists against Iona in New Rochelle, N.Y., against Iona, eclipsing its previous best of 19 on January 17, 2013, at home in a win over Marist. The 23 assists are tied for seventh-most in school single-game history.

R.J. Williams led the way, tying his career-high with seven assists, and Dylon Cormier also tied his career-best with six. Erik Etherly passed out five, Anthony Winbush had three, and Robert Olson distributed two.

Since Williams’ return to the court on January 17 against Marist, Loyola is averaging 13.8 assists per game. In just 14 games, he has moved into fourth on the team with 54 assists, and his 3.8 per game top the Greyhounds.

20-Win Season

The February 23 victory at Tennessee State was the Greyhounds’ 20th of the 2012-2013 season, marking the second time in as many years Loyola has reached the 20-win plateau. It is the first back-to-back 20-win seasons in school Division I history (since 1981-1982) and just the fifth overall.

Loyola previously put three-straight 20-win seasons together from 1946-1949 under the direction of head coach Emil “Lefty” Reitz.

More Than 60 Years

The last time the Loyola men’s basketball program won 20 games in back-to-back seasons, 1948-1949, the following things were going on in the world, 63 years ago:

Harry Truman began his first full term as President of the United States.

Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman premiered on Broadway.

NATO was formed.

The Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League merged to form the NBA.

The first jet-powered airliner, the de Havilland Comet, took flight.

Another 20-Point Game For Cormier

Dylon Cormier recorded his second-straight 20-point effort at Tennessee State, making 7-of-16 field goals and 5-of-7 from the free-throw line against the Tigers. He has led Loyola in scoring throughout the season and is currently sixth in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with 16.6 points per game. Cormier has scored 15 or more 20 times this season.

Cormier earned Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors on February 18 after averaging 20.5 points and 4.0 steals in wins over Canisius and Siena the weekend prior. He led all players with 24 points, going 9-of-10 from the free-throw line at Siena, and he also tied his season-high with five steals.

He has consistently raised his game since his freshman season. Cormier averaged 8.1 as a freshman in 2010-2011, 13.4 last year and 16.5 this season. His rebounds per game have also risen from 3.0-3.3-4.5, as have his steals per game (0.8-1.6-1.8) and assists per game (1.1-1.8-2.3). He currently is second in the MAAC in steals (58) and steals per game (1.8).

Moving Up Career Charts

In the game at Iona, Robert Olson became the 22nd player in school history to score more than 1,200 points in his career. He also moved into 20th all-time at Loyola and enters the MAAC Championships with 1,219 career points.

The MAAC Quarterfinal was the 124th game played of Olson’s career, moving him into a tie with Brian Rudolph for most games played in school history.

Elsewhere on the Loyola career charts, Olson is now second in 3-pointers made (204) behind only Marquis Sullivan’s 281. He is also 22nd in field-goals made (415), third in 3-pointers attempted (537), 16th in assists (228) and seventh in steals (117).

Overtime Under Patsos

In Jimmy Patsos’ eight-plus seasons at Loyola, the Greyhounds have played just 10 overtime games, but they have won nine of them. The only loss in nine overtime games came during 2009 against Coppin State.

This year’s squad is 3-0 in extra time this year, winning at Rhode Island and Niagara at home versus Fairfield.

Three Overtimes In A Season

The last time Loyola played three or more overtime games in a season was 1990-1991, the program’s season year in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. That year, the Greyhounds played extra time at Saint Peter’s and Niagara (four overtimes, the longest game in program history) and at home versus Iona and Saint Peter’s (three overtimes).

Six Over 10

Prior to the February 2 game at Niagara, Loyola had not placed five players in double figures all season. Against the Purple Eagles, six Greyhounds – Robert Olson (23), Dylon Cormier (15), Julius Brooks (14), Anthony Winbush (13), Erik Etherly and R.J. Williams (11 each) – scored 10 or more points.

The last time six Loyola players scored in double figures was on January 30, 2011, when the Greyhounds topped Iona, 88-85, in overtime at home.

Brooks’ Big Shot

Julius Brooks made the game-winning layup with time expiring on February 2 at Niagara, giving him a career-high 14 points. He made a career-best six field goals in just seven attempts, and he also finished with eight rebounds.

He has set or tied his career-high in scoring three times this season, first setting a new standard with 12 against Mount St. Mary’s on December 15 before tying that mark against Marist on January 17.

Brooks has logged four or more rebounds 14 times this season, and the Greyhounds are 12-2 in those contests.

Hit On 70

Despite its loss at Iona on March 1, the Greyhounds are 8-3 this season when scoring 70 or more points in a game. Their only losses when scoring that many or more came at home against Iona and at Canisius and Iona.

Over the last two seasons, Loyola is now 18-4 when it scores 70 or more. Its only loss of that kind in 2011-2012 was in an 83-79 defeat at Rider.

Record-Tying Defense

The 41 points Loyola yielded at Manhattan tied the Greyhounds’ Division I record for fewest points allowed in a game. Loyola, which joined Division I in 1981-1982, allowed 41 points on two other occasions, a 43-41 win over Marist College on February 23, 1984, and a 58-41 victory at Dartmouth on November 24, 2009.

The 14 field goals by Manhattan were the fewest yielded by a Jimmy Patsos-coached Loyola team.

Opponents Under 50

The Manhattan game was the third time this season Loyola has held an opponent to fewer than 50 points. The Greyhounds did so in the November 9 season-opener against Binghamton (45) and on November 17 against Norfolk State (49).

Loyola twice held opponents to sub-50 performances last season: February 3, 2012, against Rider (46) and March 5 versus Fairfield (44) in the MAAC Championship Game.

Over the nine years Jimmy Patsos has been head coach at Loyola, the Greyhounds have held opponents under 50 points nine times, all Greyhound wins. The nine games have all come in the last four seasons.

Cormier, Etherly Score 1,000th Points

On Monday night at Fairfield, Erik Etherly and Dylon Cormier became the 33rd and 34th players in Loyola men’s basketball history to reach 1,000 career points as Greyhounds, and they did so in the same game, a feat never before accomplished at Loyola.

Etherly scored his 1,000th on a layup just 15 seconds into the second half at Fairfield, and Cormier followed suit on a 3-pointer from the left corner 8:07 later.

1,000 Points In the Same Game

Prior to the Fairfield game, through unofficial research, the last time a school had two players reach 1,000 points in the same game was nearly five years ago when Fernandez Lockett and Todd Babington of Austin Peay hit the plateau on March 7, 2008

However, it took just 24 hours for it to happen again as North Carolina State’s Richard Howell and Lorenzo Brown got to 1,000 in the Wolfpack’s 86-84 loss at Wake Forest on Tuesday night.

And Olson Makes It Three

Erik Etherly and Dylon Cormier were not the first Loyola players to score 1,000 in a career this season. Robert Olson reached the mark on January 6 against Saint Peter’s.

It is the first time in Loyola’s 103 seasons of men’s basketball that the program has had three players with 1,000 career points at the same time.

Three 1,000-Point Scorers In MAAC History

Since the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference was founded in 1980, this is just the sixth instance of a team touting three players with 1,000-plus points at the same time.

The Greyhounds limited Siena to 51 points, the 12th time this season they have held an opponent to 59 or fewer on the scoreboard. Loyola has won all 12 of those games. Including the 2011-2012 season, Loyola has held opponents to 59 or fewer 23 times, all victories.

Cormier Getting To The Line

Through 31 games played this season, Dylon Cormier has shot 215 free throws, an average of 6.9 per game. He has made 73.5-percent of those shots, a total of 158.

He has already surpassed his made free throw total from a year ago when he made 108-of-160. In his two-plus seasons at Loyola, Cormier has made 319-of-454 (70.2-percent) from the line.

Guards To The Boards

Dylon Cormier and Robert Olson, Loyola’s starting guards, are third and fourth on the team in rebounding this season with both averaging 4.5 per game.

Olson has pulled down five or more boards 16 times this year, and Cormier has reached or exceeded that total 12 times.

Winning Combinations

Loyola is now 13-1 when it shoots 45-percent or better in a game, and the Greyhounds are now 15-3 when scoring 65 or more points this season. Loyola is also 13-1 when holding opponents to 59 points or less.

High Marks

The Loyola men’s basketball team scored the highest amongst squads in the State of Maryland in the most recent NCAA Graduation Success Rate report. The Greyhounds checked in with a 91-percent GSR, tops among the state’s nine Division I schools, for players who entered the school between 2002-2005.

Century Mark

Head Coach Jimmy Patsos became the third coach in Loyola history to win 100 games when the Greyhounds defeated UMBC, 73-63, on the road last season. Patsos, who is now in his ninth season, took over a team that finished 1-27 during the 2002-2003 season. He won his 100th game in his 215th career game.

Last season, Patsos moved into third-place all time at Loyola in victories, trailing only Lefty Reitz (349 wins, 1937-44, 1945-61) and Nap Doherty (165, 1961-74).

Loyola All-Time Coaching Wins List

1.

349

Lefty Reitz

1937-1944, 1945-1961

2.

165

Nap Doherty

1961-1974

3.

142

Jimmy Patsos

2004-present

4.

85

Mark Amatucci

1982-1989

5.

72

Gary Dicovitsky

1976-1981

Baltimore Bred And More From Nearby

Since taking over as head coach in 2004, Jimmy Patsos has put an emphasis on recruiting locally, and it has never shown as much as on this year’s roster. Four players – junior guard Dylon Cormier (Cardinal Gibbons), junior forward Jordan Latham (City) and sophomore guard R.J. Williams and freshman forward Josh Forney (St. Frances) are products of schools within the city limits.

Six more players played in high school within 50 miles of Loyola, as the crow flies (thanks daftlogic.com): Jarred Jones, John Carroll, 20.5; Tyler Hubbard, Montrose Christian, 32.6 miles; Robert Olson, Georgetown Prep, 33.9; Anthony Winbush, T.C. Williams, 43.7; and Erik Etherly, Annandale, 47.9.